Settling or Settled

 

3 short honk-barking sounds...over and over

Big black bird hops from spot to spot

On the old cottonwood tree

Enhertu Side Effect Experiment: Removing Emend | MBC Update, a Reading, + Upcoming Alaska Road Trip.

LINK 12:54 minutes

I've been watching Kim's videos for a year now, ever since her "The Beginning of My End" popped up on you tube and I clicked on it. What I discovered is a beautiful person with the abilities (spoken, written, through photography) to express herself so eloquently through the many ups and downs, joys and deep sorrows of life. I came to know someone who could capture with her camera the world's amazing wildlife and more...seeing nature through her eyes. You can see her vision too on her website: HERE or more videos: OVER HERE. Her photo of Lake Tahoe hangs in my kitchen, where it fills me with joy each day as I look at it. 

In this video (above), she shares her reality and heartfelt words. I would only do her an injustice to try and summarize that here, so I do hope you watch the video.

You can also follow along on her journey above or HERE at her Untamed email list.

"Who you are is what you settle for, you know?" ~Janis Joplin

I'm recently considering the word "settle". The above quote came at the right time for this. What is the difference between settling for and be settled in, as in comfort and acceptance of a particular reality? Do you see this as a positive or negative? 

I've also been listening to a lot of the generational music...the 1960's - 1970's...the good stuff. At night I fall into the rabbit hole of memories of eras in my life. It is priceless and deeply bittersweet. The other night it was the "strong women" (as my tween daughter used to call them). Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt, Carly Simon, Carole King, Joni Mitchell...among others. I'm not including those with a more "country" focus and forgetting other names at the moment, but you get the idea. I could literally spend hours in this space.

You can probably guess some of those songs/videos will show up here on the 'trail' soon!

I've also picked up the needle and thread again. I'm still gluing, but will also be stitching on leather again. I'm grateful to still have some, as I will most likely not purchase it again. But, we'll see. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, as the saying goes. 

Where do you feel settled in? What have you settled for? How do you recognize the differences?

 

May you know your dreams

May you know your boundaries

May you  settle "in" or "for" - as appropriate

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2026

The Time We're In, A Mash Up

 

My sister sent me this LINK also. Go there to make sense of what I am saying here. It's instagram, so I didn't know how to import it here.

While I thought at first that the instagram post was just humorous, before it even came to an end...there was a certain bittersweet quality to it. How we all wish to go back to a simpler time. Yet, here I am writing my personal thoughts (my diary) for all the world to see. That one just keeps feeling weird to me, yet I continue. Huh. 

At any rate, the news of the world, the news of anything has me shifting from bitter (sad, angry) to sweet, again and again, and often a mixture of both. At least I'm able to keep my humor alive too.

I think I'd like to escape to this kind of place! And I know which one I'd choose on most days. haha

I love how the pages in the GLUE BOOKS just fall into being. It is very freeing. I'm appreciating how even in the ease and fun of this new form of creativity, I'm able to see some connections to other parts of life. Of course I am. I mean, really...even without trying, deeper meanings come through. I couldn't stop myself if I tried, real hard! haha Wild.

Today quotes keep popping into my head, as they relate to myself and others. Playing with words is always a fulfilling thing to do. Playing with images, colors...just playing are all such good forms of self-care.

If you've lost focus, 

just sit down and be still.

Take the idea and 

rock it to and fro.

Keep some of it

and throw some away,

and it will renew itself.

You need do no more.

~Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Online weather reports it will be 90° today and 61° tonight. Then were set up for 80° 's - 90° 's until the 31st of March. April first = rain? We'll see! This porch thermometer is very old and sits in direct sun much of the day. I'm not so sure it's accurate at all, but perhaps it's close enough. However, in some moments it really does reflect a "feels like" temperature! Kinda like the whole 'wind chill factor' - but with intense sunshine!

Where are you landing these days?

 

May you find the bitter not too harsh

May you find the sweet mind-numbingly sweet 🙂

May you shift and swing with ease

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2026

How Big Is The Sky?

 

Jesse Jackson 'I Am Somebody' on Sesame Street

LINK 1:25 minutes

May we encourage others, and ourselves, to be the somebody we were meant to be...however that may appear to the outside world, may we just be and fight for everyone to have that ability as well.

She wanted everyone to read, so she opened a library that never closes (1983)

LINK 5:14 minutes

Between the thrashing of the rain and the brilliance of a sky opened up by holding more, bigger clouds than the mind can imagine.

Can you see the rain? Yeah, probably not, but just know that it was pouring!

33° tonight, more rain tomorrow.

We jokingly called it 'the big muddy' today. Well, at least in our little corner of the world it is!

The river has grown wider again after the rain. It was muddy and very fast moving. Beautiful.

Ripples and clouds bursting from the sky, their beauty...stunning.

"To be surprised, to wonder, is to begin to understand" ~Jose Ortega y Gasset 

Stark, big...dramatic.

"Dwell as near as possible to the channel in which your life flows" ~ Henry David Thoreau

Somewhere in the muddy flow was a long, maybe 4 feet long, stick, which I threw like a spear and raced to the other side to see it rolling on the river! Success! There it went, pat the fallen tree, through the ripple-bumps, that reminded me of an ancient dinosaur spine. Rushing, rushing towards the sea.

"No matter how full the river, it still wants to grow" ~African Proverb

After my trail marking with the Spear Stick I later propelled into the river...I next played with Stick Splashes. Oh, how fun! Here J. handled the splashing, while I snapped a photo. 🙂

The oaks think its Spring. We are expecting more green and maybe a Supper Bloom this year.

How do you hold the sky?

 

May you dream with the clouds

May you respect the tumbling waters

May you play in the puddles

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2026

We Will Continue

 

*Today is their 86th day walking for peace...

Martin Luther King Day...

May we learn from the past, remember the past and keep those lessons alive in the future...

The bracelet says; "Be your own hero"...the ring says: "Namaste"

A post to mark today, to mark where we are at this point in time. May the lessons of the past rise to the top of the current moment...and be seen and understood.  I seem to be out of meaningful words, but feel I must continue in some way. Today this is my way: well-worn quotes and recent videos filled with love and peace and respect. May our world catch up with the movement these Monks are bringing across the miles. May the voices of the people rise up with strength and song. May we continue...

How will we move forward? 

 

May you find a way

May you live with hope

May you live with love

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2026

River Check - The Slow Life

 

An old card found

Two days ago, it was clear enough, so we took a simple drive over to the bridge to check the water level after the rains. It was lush and fine and flowing beautifully. Enough of a flow and openness to play Pooh Sticks again. Do you see us up on the bridge? heehee

The Buy Nothing Rebellion — and What It Really Means

LINK 11:10 minutes

This video began as a Mmmm? I wonder what his take is on the "buy nothing" trend. But, I was happily surprised to find a deeper concept than I was expecting. I kept hear Jude and others saying "chop wood, carry water". I know this is not a new outlook or lesson...but, I heard it in a new way. Isn't that how it goes? Then I was over at Saskia's and she too was talking about The Dwelling and other happenings from this perspective. I want to practice this more.

Top photo: I notice a flash of white and spy the egret across the river.

Middle photo: Once uploaded, I zoom in for closer look.

Bottom photo: I tried to capture the scene as I saw it: Tall, narrow bright-white bird under the tall, narrow power lines.

70-Year-Old Woodcarving Master Cuts Down a Tree and Crafts Her Last Spoon

LINK 27:52 minutes

Then I came across this gal.  I was intrigued because of J's past spoon making and our visit to a spoon making craftsman years ago. I've given most of them away now, hanging on to a few I really love. Anyway, I enjoyed seeing her process and meeting the poet that is inside of her. 

I also watched her make bread in a mud oven. You can see it HERE (28:01 minutes). Such a gift.

I am so grateful to all of you who share the trail with me...who give me so much in the way of time, knowledge, inspiration and love. I am so grateful for the ways I can be in the world, even if I wish for more/different. I am grateful for the slowing down and the noticing.

How do you show or share gratitude?

 

May you share your gifts

May you accept the gifts of others

May you each have much to be grateful for

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2025

Strength

 Thanks go out to Margery of trickstershoard for the sharing of this piece of writing that had come her way. I honor her gift by sharing it myself, here with all of you.

I found it so timely. My Power Words list included "stay strong"...and now, how this writing fleshes out that idea even further...what strong can look like.

Days around here call for strength...whatever kind of strength one can muster and that includes the "sitting with" kind. Some tummy troubles this week give me time to think and stitch. I am grateful.

Anyway, now I consider how those Power Words can mean so many different things depending on the reader or the situation or the moment. 

Isn't that wonderful?

I added the last phrase 'May You Claim Your Power!' onto the cloth today. I'm ready to make more. I also added an edging of green stitching around the Metta Kindness Meditation scroll.

The early morning and early evening sky is filled with the calls of Hawk. She sits in this tall tree and calls...screams out and exits the tree, slow and low through the still air. I stand in awe.

How do you find your strength? 

 

May you share strength with others in need

May you know your blessings, no matter how small

May you continue on, however that looks

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2025

Coming Home

 

The Metta Meditation Scroll is done (for now?). I backed it with an old flannel sheet ins a very similar color as the muslin. I wanted the words to stay center stage, stay the focus for now. I may or may not change my mind later. I'm really glad I decided to do this, as the added weight makes it much easier to handle and will keep it around longer. And I seem to need it around right now. This scroll and my Word Cloth are never far from my seat on the couch. I'm still considering Dee's post on "home" and I am thinking, maybe these are 'home' for me these days.

Yesterday at the bridge it was fairly quiet...the event over and all of their celebratory banners and flags long gone. But, the treasures I'd left were mostly still there, the crows were there - 4-5 of them on the bridge itself and the mummy toad we've been watching is still there too. The ants have covered and uncovered it. It is dried and motionless, its small 'fingers' posed in time. The hawk nest is now empty. The water silently flows, the green grows. I consider how this place has become 'home' to me and I am grateful.

I came across this quote weeks ago kept forgetting to post it. Today when I finally remember, the swallows are gone and hope may have flown off with them.

Not a swallow in sight, just empty nests and the ground, fencing and slanted bank of the wash covered in swallow droppings. I mean Covered! This led us to wonder many things. what happens to their mud nests if they've flown on? Will they return here soon or next year? Were there babies old enough to fly on? Where will their next home be?

Just since our last walk a week ago, the cattails have completely formed. They stand thick and brown-topped, dancing in the breeze. We couldn't believe the change in such a short time. Between the cattails and the lack of swallows, I really got the message that time is flying by!

I saw this last week, but did not bend down low to get a better look. This week I remembered to show J. and ask him what he thought...a praying mantis egg case! Grace...can you believe it?! I did not see any sign of the insects themselves, jsut the egg case, tucked under the wood fence rail. Imagine that. 

We tossed a rock or two in the water to see if there were any pollywogs, but did not see any. we did see dragonflies, flying low. We learned that dragonflies eat pollywogs at times. There were dragonflies at Placerita too.

Last for today, I finally sewed some more on J.'s over shirt. It is kind of a pain and I had discovered that there is way more fraying and disintegration than can really be addressed. We've decided that I will do what I can, and he'll wear it til he can't. Good solution.

What do you consider home?

 

May you become familiar within a place 

May you become comfortable within many spaces

May you carry home in your heart

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2025